It's Complicated
by MX5
Summary: Batman finds a 16-year-old girl injured by the Jokerz and under Bruce's orders, brings her to the manor in order to mend her injuries. Bruce knows there's more to the girl than meets the eye. As days go by, her heart begins to open a little more.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: Jokerz

It was a cloudy night in Gotham that night in mid-November. A few pigeons strutted around on the asphault in a nearby alley, pecking occasionally at some of the spillage from a dumpster. A stray cat jumped down from a fire escape, meowing pitifully as it searched the dumpster for any tasty tidbits. Thunder rumbled from a distance away as a faint flash of lightning streaked through the sky. A few late shoppers walked down the sidewalk, their shoes thumping dully as they made their way to home.  
A door opened up with a slightly rusty squeak as the bell jingled. Tamara Thomas sighed and dragged her fingers through her hair as she exited a local shop, the door clanging shut behind her. The shopkeeper had wanted nothing to do with an emaciated young woman who'd never even graduated high school. She'd been looking for work and secure lodgings so she could support herself, but it just never happened for her.

Stepping out onto the sidewalk, she let a tear course down her face, splashing into a puddle in a gutter. Above her, the clouds decided to let loose with a barrage of rain and thunder crashed in the distance. Tamara turned up her frayed coat collar and glanced up at the dark night. It was almost midnight as she stood there, waiting for the bus to come and take her to some other part of Gotham.  
It was a hard life, she had decided, pushing her royal blue hair back behind her ears. Tamara was a pretty girl with shoulder length hair she had dyed deep blue, her favorite color. She wore a midriff-baring top with two buttons on the left side of the top. The top had a sweetheart neckline with black edging around it. Tamara smoothed out her black pants with a quick brushing of her hands, scattering a little dust from the edge. Her black sneakers were already starting to get wet as more thunder sounded. Her black jacket was insufficient to give her any protection from the cold. The young woman pulled out an elastic from her pocket and tied her hair back in a ponytail, brushing her side bangs behind her ears.

"What the?" Tamara stepped back as she heard the buzzing of several motorcycles pull up nearby. "Jokerz." the one that looked the most like the original Joker dismounted his motorcycle and pulled out a knife as the others followed suit.

"All aboard with for the FUN TIME!" the leader cackled, leaning his bike up against a nearby dumpster.  
"How wonderful." Tamara forgot about the bus as she became interested in watching the street gang. A Joker with red hair and an odd funky hat with a flower on it rammed his shoulder against the door with a hollow thud, trying to ram it down completely.

"Aw, look at that!" one Joker chirped loudly, spying Tamara out of the corner of his eye. "Cheer up, sweetums!"

"Ugh," she growled. "no thanks, buddy."

"That's right, I'm your new buddy!" the Joker went over to her, ignoring her glare, then hooked his arm around her waist, drawing her to him.

"If you want a laugh, you'd best talk to the wall," Tamara advised wryly. "it'd be a better listener than me."

"Now you're making me laugh!" he smirked. "Come on, wanna buy a joke? Or go sit under a tree in the park and make out?"

"Sorry, honey," Tamara gently pulled away, not wanting to antagonize him or his pals. "I'm already taken." she tried to leave the alley, but backed into the dumpster instead. The stray cat, having found a few bits to munch on, hissed in surprised and jumped away, glaring at Tamara rudely.

"Can't you have some fun on the side?" he whined, a playful sneer etching itself across his face as the others giggled rudely.

"I'm not a two-timer, sorry." a fake apologetic smile and she began to walk away, only to find the Joker's hand on her arm, pulling her back.

"It could be fun!" the gang was closing in on her and she did not like the pathetic leering that was looming on every face in the low light.

"Just not into it. Think you guys will let me go or do I have to use force?" not that she would be much of a fighter; a solid week without nourishment of any kind had left her severely weakened. Tamara knew she was pale faced and shaky; doubtless that the Jokerz would find her an easy victory.

"You don't look like you're ready for that kind of force, toots." one of the hoodlums made a kissyface noise.

"You're probably right. I'm too ill right now to care about what you do to me." Tamara conceded.  
At the same time, Terry McGinnis aka Batman was patrolling the alleys of Gotham and happened upon the cluster of Jokerz and a young woman. She didn't look like she was in distress, but he knew that was liable to change at any time. Terry saw the looks on the gang's faces and knew instinctively that she was in for a rough time.

"What do you see?" Bruce's voice sounded in his cowl.

"Jokerz with a young girl. I'm betting they aren't asking her to be their date in a nice way." the girl didn't look perturbed and Terry was a bit startled to see her politely decline the advances and try to back away, but it was to their advantage, as she nudged into a dumpster.

"You know what to do."

"I do." Terry jumped from the apartment building roof that he had been perched on, deployed his retractable wings, and coasted down to the cluster of people.

"Break it up, boys! I think your mommies want to have you back home in bed by midnight." Terry growled low as Tamara shook her arm free of the Joker's grasp. She began edging away, but the tallest gang member grabbed her, wrapping her in a headlock and held a knife up to her throat. Her eyes opened up wide and she tried to jerk away from the thug, but he tightened his grip on her.

In the streetlight, Terry saw the teen girl more clearly and he was stunned. Her face was pale, she had lines under her eyes, she looked like she needed to be fed properly. The girl was lean, leaner than she should have been for her height.

"Let her go and nobody has to get hurt."

"Listen to him," Tamara backed up Batman. "I'd do what he says."

"Terry!" Bruce spoke. "End this and bring her back here!" the old man could see that Tamara was emaciated and close to passing out completely with malnourishment. He was already worried about her heart and whether it could take the kind of stress she would be under.

Terry sprang into action without any further ado. He managed to knock all the Jokerz out, but saw that Tamara had suffered in the middle of the fight. She stood now, trying to stem the bleeding of a wound on the right side of her belly, black and blue bruises were already springing up all over her appendages. The teenage girl glanced over at Batman without a qualm as her precious lifeblood dripped onto the asphalt.

"Thanks."

"What's your name?"

"Tamara T Thomas," she wavered and Terry caught her just before she fell. "anything else before I pass out?"

"Have I seen you somewhere before? Do you go to Hamilton High?"

"I used to... " Bruce and Terry saw her eyes close.

"Bring her here," Bruce instructed his protege. "she needs medical help and there would be too many questions that regular doctors would ask."

"You think she's got a secret, boss?" Terry picked her up and returned to the Batmobile. He put her in the back of the car and linked up his suit to the car's computer system.

In the batcave, Bruce steepled his fingers together under his chin and watched the progress of the Batmobile winding its way home. Ace looked up at his master through half closed eyelids as he also awaited Terry.

Happily, there were no ill effects from Bruce's attack from the Joker a few months ago. The original Batman had been astrounded that the Joker had managed to encode his DNA in a microchip and implanted it into Tim Drake's body. Drake himself had not undergone any ill side effects as well, but he chose to have some psychiatric help. The former Robin had been repressing a lot of anxiety and guilt from accidentally killing the Joker and then going to being his patsy. Barbara had told Bruce about Tim's decision to get mental help and counseling sessions, though fortunately without divulging their secret.  
Terry, Bruce noticed, had suffered some nightmares and some anxiety about the whole debacle. On the occasions when Terry would crash at the manor, he would inevitably have a dream or two about the Joker and wake up in a cold sweat. He wouldn't talk about it, as Bruce sensed that he didn't want to be seen as weak. It was understandable to have some residual nightmares after the event was over, even though Terry never talked about it.

Ace raised himself up nudge Bruce's hand, asking for a pat. With a rare grin, Bruce rubbed his faithful dog's head, making the animal sigh in contentment.

"You're easy to please." Ace thumped his tail a few times at hearing his master's voice. A few moments later, the Batmobile came in. Terry opened up the door and brought out Tamara.

"Over there," Bruce gestured to the medical area, picking his cane up and going over there himself. Terry put Tamara on the exam table while Bruce flicked on the lights. "she's in a pretty bad state." bruises ran rampant over her limbs and there was a cut near her left eye.

"I think so too," Terry agreed. "she looked sick out there and she just looks worse now."

Bruce picked up a syringe and tube from the tray behind them and turned to Tamara. "I want to draw some blood so I can see how badly off she is. If it is what I think, she'll need to be here for awhile to recover."

"Why the sudden interest?" it wasn't like Bruce to voluntarily take a person in without knowing anything about them.

Bruce quelled Terry with a look that meant he wasn't going to divulge anything. "Go to the computer and look up her personal records while I mend her injuries."

"Right." Terry went into the main section of the cave and said "Computer, access personal files on Tamara T Thomas."

"Searching.." it replied. "Found."

"Good." Terry sat in the chair as he patted Ace on the head.

"Tamara Trinity Thomas, born February 20th," the date flashed up and Terry noted she was only a year younger than himself, making her 16. "to Broderick and Linda Thomas. No juvenile record. Parents died in a plane crash 8 years ago, a state assigned guardian was utilized to take care of Ms. Thomas. Three months ago, Ms. Thomas was reported missing and has not been seen since."

"Computer, last known whereabouts of Tamara Thomas."

"Last known whereabouts approximately 3 months ago on September 20th at 2123 hours." a picture flashed up on the screen of Tamara using a pass card on the city monorail. "No known appearances since."

"Interesting. Computer, access Tamara's guardian."

"Searching... Found. Ms Thomas's guardian, one Lawrence A. Cooper."

"Computer, check to see if Lawrence A Cooper has a criminal record."

"Found."

"Print it."

"Printing..." a sheet of paper churned out of the printer and Terry pulled it off to look at. He walked over to where Bruce was mending Tamara's cut on her belly.

"This guy's got a rap sheet a mile long," Terry noted, seeing out of the corner of his eye the three inch long mark on the right side of her belly. "OUIs, DWIs, hookers, drugs, you name it, he's done it."

"Domestic violence?"

"No," Terry scanned for any mention of domestic violence or abuse, but did not see a thing. "nothing here on it."

"Just because there's no mention of it doesn't mean it didn't happen." Bruce turned back to the table laden with supplies and put a vial with Tamara's blood in a machine. It turned on with a lurch and began to process the blood sample. "Why else would she leave home if she was being well cared for?"

"She misses her parents?" Terry suggested as he put the printout down. "People do crazy things when they're still grieving."

"True," the original Batman pulled out a medical laser to seal off the bleeding and then he put Steri-Strips over her wound to act as stitches until it healed. Terry assisted him with putting a bandage over her wound, then Bruce picked up the printout. "petty theft, OUIs, you're right. I'd be willing to bet that he abused her and she didn't report it for fear that she might get a different guardian who was much worse."

"Makes sense." Terry held back a yawn. "So what are you going to do with her?"

"Bring her back to health for one thing." the blood analyzer beeped and churned a printout. Bruce pulled it out as the machine turned itself off. His blue eyes read down the page, scanning the numbers.

"She's severely anemic first of all. Could do with a blood transfusion."

"What else?"

"Electrolytes are down, her white cell count is up, meaning she's ill or has an infection at the very least. All of her numbers are low. I don't want her waking up down here where it will stress her heart and agitate her. She will need to stay in bed for a day or two until I can get her counts back up to where they need to be."

"Will she be down here the entire time?"

"No. I want her upstairs in a comfortable bed where I can keep an eye on her." Bruce gathered up the supplies he would need and Terry picked up the girl. Along with Ace, they went upstairs to the second floor, Bruce steering them to the bedroom next to the one Terry used on and off. Terry put Tamara down on the bed and left to get ready for bed himself as Bruce stripped Tamara down, leaving only her underwear on. He picked up her clothes to put in the wash, put her in a hospital johnny and hung up an old bathrobe nearby.

Going into a hall closet, he brought out an IV stand and put it beside the bed, hanging up a bag of electrolyte solution, lactated Ringers, and IV saline. A smaller bag of potassium was also hung up, fondly called the 'banana bag' by medical professionals. Bruce intubated her through a vein in the crook of her arm, connected the lines and taped the tubing down securely.

"That should do it." turning off the light, he checked in on Terry in the next room. The teenager had fallen asleep in his clothes again, but at least this time his jacket and shoes were off. With a small grin on his face, Bruce spread a woolen blanket over his protege as he slept on, oblivious.  
The senior Batman got ready for bed as well, welcoming Ace on the bed to sleep beside him.  
****


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Anxieties

Bruce woke up early and did his morning routine, feeding the dog and himself. He let Terry sleep in as long as he wanted, as it was a long weekend due to parent-teacher conferences and Mary McGinnis was out of town along with Matt on a business trip. Taking his coffee upstairs with him, he checked Tamara's regular vital signs and noted that her heart was already recovering nicely. Last night there had been a faint irregularity in her heartbeat, and Bruce had determined that a steady dose of electrolytes and Ringers had been necessary to try to even it out.

He began to change the bags one at a time, tossing the used ones away as Ace trailed into the room. He licked at Tamara's hand and was rewarded with a faint groan. The dog wagged his tail as Bruce watched Tamara blink groggily and open her eyes.

"Hey Bruce?" Terry came into the room then, his jacket on his left shoulder. Tamara glanced at him, then saw Bruce and the dog. "Hey, welcome back." the teenager noticed her brown eyes staring but they seemed to get wider. Bruce looked over at the monitor and noticed a slight change at her heart rate, seeing that it was speeding up a bit. The heart monitor gave a warning sign as Tamara's heart rate went up and she made an expression of discomfort. Bruce sorted through the medical kit and found a small vial of diazepam.

"Whoa, take it easy," Terry tried to comfort her. "you're in good hands here." he touched her hand and she did not pull away. Her heartbeat steadied, but it was still too fast for Bruce's liking. Terry looked up at his mentor for help, then saw Bruce was standing over Tamara with a syringe in his hand.

"Are you allergic to opiates?" he asked in his gravelly voice. Tamara shook her head no, her throat was too dry to talk. Terry took her hand with his, giving her a kind look. Ace seemed to pick up on the tension as well and gave a little whine.

"This will relax you and let you get more sleep." without any further ado, he injected her with a small dose of the drug. Both men watched her fall asleep as Ace pawed at her hand and whined.

"I think the mutt's adopted her," Terry noticed. "he doesn't do that." the Great Dane mix never demonstrated such concern for someone that he hadn't even really met yet. Bruce understood that dogs were much better judges of people than most would even guess.

"Dogs have much better sense than what we take them for." was all Bruce said as he discarded the syringe, putting it into the disposal bin with a loud rattling sound. "We need to do more research into her life."

"Shouldn't we wait until she wakes up and ask her?" Terry questioned as they went downstairs. "It would seem really odd that two strangers know her life story."

"That reminds me, I need to start you in psychology, McGinnis. The point is to know her life story in case she lies to us." they stepped down on the landing and Terry pulled out his cell phone, hearing a tinny ringing sound. At Bruce's glare, he turned the phone on vibrate and stuffed it back into his pocket with a slightly sheepish look.

"You think she would?" narrowing his eyes a bit as the morning sun filtered in through the windows, Terry went into the kitchen and got a drink from the tap.

"She doesn't know us from Adam, Terry. You must know your enemy, ally, or in this case, a transient." Bruce went over to the library followed by Terry and pulled out a psychology book. "Start the introduction while I get more information on our guest."

"Gonna go hacking again?" Terry stretched out on the couch as Bruce opened up the grandfather clock. The senior turned and gave Terry a look that was part smug, partially a grin as the teenager opened up the book and began to read.

Terry was good with computers but he left the hacking mostly up to Bruce and Max. He was just as likely to do something wrong and have the FBI rapping on his front door. The introduction to psychology was a load of technobabble to him, but he found a word section that broke down the terms and gave him a basis for understanding all the big words.

So absorbed in the book, Terry barely noticed when Ace jumped up onto the couch next to him and put his head in the teenager's lap. Absently he stroked the dog's head and shoulders while he turned the pages.

* * *

"Computer, search Tamara Thomas in police databases."

"Searching.." the robotic voice replied as Bruce leaned back and waited for the search engine to complete his mission. "Found."

"Load."

A newspaper clipping of Tamara as a happy 8-year-old girl appeared onscreen. "Tamara Thomas, aged 8, lost her parents to a plane crash on August 11."

"Zoom in." the article mentioned how the cause of the accident was unknown, the names of potential guardians, and how Tamara was so bright and bubbly but had withdrawn into herself. Rather like Bruce after his parents died, he was about 10 when it had happened but he saw similarities between the two teenagers and himself. With his parents' murder and Terry's father's murder, it was pretty clear cut who had killed them and why, but it was not clear why Tamara's parents died.

"Computer, cross reference Tamara's parents with where they worked and if they had any known rivals."

"Searching..."

Bruce leaned back against the chair for a long moment, closing his eyes, unwanted memories of his parents' murder flashing in his subconscious. At least Terry nor Tamara had been present at the actual murder itself which was something to be thankful for. From what he understood of Terry's father's murder, Terry had showed up about 20 minutes after the crime had been done. His mother had been the one to tell him something had happened, but he'd run in to see his father's body being put in a body bag and taken away.

Like Terry himself, Bruce had never really gotten over the deaths of his parents. It had been more than 50 years since they had gone and he still felt the pain like it had happened yesterday. On the anniversaries of the deaths, he and Terry would go to the graves of their loved ones, deposit flowers, and talk to the departed like they were there in front of them.

"No known rivals." the computer seemed to mock him.

"Shit." the old man muttered as he checked his watch. He had been down in the cave for almost two hours, searching for anyone with motive, jealousy or whatnot to take Tamara's parents down. Standing up with a stretch, he went upstairs, knowing that the diazepam was about to start wearing off.

Terry met Bruce just as they were starting up the stairs to Tamara's room. "Find anything?"

"No. Her parents died in an accident, or so it seems." the senior growled and Terry didn't bother to question him further. He opened up the door to Tamara's room, noticing first off that Tamara hadn't moved an inch and was still apparently asleep. Ace bounded up in the rear as Bruce drew the window shades shut.

"Keep it dark in here. When she wakes up, her eyes will be sensitive to light. Don't get her excited," the old man warned. "I don't know how she'll react to us and she's still very fragile."

"You're the boss." Terry still had the psychology book tucked under one arm and Bruce had to grin.  
"Finding that book to your liking?"

"I never realized just how interesting psychology is." Terry sat down on the chaise lounge and pulled the book open again. "I can watch her if you want to do anything else."

"First time I've ever seen you read voluntarily."

"Watch it, old man. I have a reputation to keep up." Terry mocked playfully as Bruce left, keeping the door ajar.

It was only a few minutes later when Ace came in, refreshed from his nap on the sofa, then plopped himself down on Terry's feet, startling the teenager.

"Oh, hey, Killer," he snaked his hand down and rubbed the dog's ears while Ace grunted in contentment. "go to sleep now." Terry giggled to himself, nobody ever had to tell a dog to go to sleep.

* * *

As the day progressed, Bruce stopped in to check on Tamara every two hours. What astounded him was actually seeing Terry engrossed in a book for any length of time. Ace barely moved from his position, and Tamara didn't move either.

It was around suppertime at the manor when Terry finally put his book down, distracted by a rumbling hunger. He got up, dog at his heels, and went into the kitchen where Bruce was attempting to cut up an acorn squash.

The old man was having a hard time of it and undoubtedly cursing under his breath, but Terry couldn't hear it. He didn't need to anyway as he nudged Bruce aside and raised up the knife.

"What are you doing?"

"What's it look like?" the squash, impaled on the knife, did not yield until Terry raised up the whole vegetable and knife together and thumped it down on the cutting board with an audible smack, splitting the vegetable into two pieces. "These things are always rock hard."

"Now we have to quarter it and skin it." Bruce made to pick up a paring knife, but Terry waved him away.

"No need. Here." he scored the two halves, cleaned out the seeds, then put olive oil on the flesh with a little salt and pepper, turned the oven on to 400 degrees. The teenager put the halves on a cookie sheet and put it in the oven, setting the timer for 40 minutes.

"Now for a little protein," Terry rooted through the cupboards, finding them well stocked, and brought out a box of stuffing and he also found some pork chops. Together they worked on the menu and when it was all in the oven to bake, they sat down at the table. Bruce left for a moment to take his medicine and Terry went back into the kitchen to feed the dog.

Ace was standing beside his bowl as usual, whining as Terry opened up the pantry and opened up the dog food bin. He picked up the cup and scooped out a measure of the food then put it in the dog's dish.  
The Great Dane slobbered happily and the sounds of his high speed eating made Terry just shake his head as he left the kitchen. With a small grin on his face, he resumed his place at the table as Bruce resumed his, then they discussed the topic of psychology until supper was ready.

When the timer went off, Terry picked the cookie sheet off of the rack in the oven, grabbed an oven mitt, a knife, and a big mixing bowl, he proceeded to scrape the squash off of the skin in several easy strokes. It only took a minute and he had it ready to serve.

"Try this for a start." it smelled wonderful and Bruce was more than ready to take a bite as Terry brought out the stuffing and pork chops.

"Where did you learn to make something this good?" he blew on a forkful to make it cool down.  
"Dad took cooking lessons in his high school days and if there was an adult ed course with cooking, he'd do it." Terry answered, enjoying his supper.

"Interesting."

"Why thanks, Bruce." Terry knew that was the closest thing to a compliment that he was likely to get from the old man. Bruce paused and gave Terry a half smile he knew that the teen didn't see.

* * *

After supper, Terry assembled a small plate for Tamara and went upstairs as his mentor went for his postprandial stroll around his estate.

"Hey Tamara, I've got some supper for you-hi!" he exclaimed as he saw the teen girl sitting up in bed and paging through the psychology book he'd left there.

"Um, hi." her voice reminded him of a little girl caught in the act of doing something wrong.

"No worries. I'm Terry McGinnis," he set the tray down near her. "how are you doing?"

"Much better," she sighed. "the smells emanating up here were tremendous! I was almost salivating!"

"Dig in!" he offered. Tamara took up a knife and fork, then plunged in.

"Amazing! Did you do this yourself?"

"With a little help from the master of the estate."

Tamara paused. "Who is he exactly? I vaguely remember seeing you both earlier."

"Bruce Wayne."

"Oh, the gazillionaire," she gave a wistful sigh. "still, I'm glad there's someone my own age to talk to here."

"Amen to that. The old man's stuffy but if you talk about a subject he likes which is psychology among other things, he gets animated."

"I bet. I trust he'll come up to see me later on."

"Yeah, he's tending to your health." a barking erupted downstairs and Terry smiled. Tamara paled and dropped her fork.

"There's a dog on the property?"

"That's Ace, Mr. Wayne's mixed breed dog. He seems to like you already."

"Oh. I haven't had a good past with dogs."

"How so?" Tamara showed him a two inch long scar on her left forearm.

"My guardian's shepherd did that to me. I've been afraid of them ever since."

"I'm sure your guardian was a real piece of work." Tamara winced visibly as he said that and Terry noticed, so he chose not to mention it again. Unlike Bruce, Terry thought it best if Tamara told him his past herself so he knew what topics were off limits and which ones were OK to talk to her about.

"Thanks so much for the supper, Terry. I feel much better now."

"Hard to get rest with an empty stomach gnawing at you, isn't it?" he teased while picking up the tray.

"Mr. Wayne's going to look in on you in a few hours."

"How long am I here for?" she looked a bit forlorn in asking.

"However long as it takes to get you up and going again." Terry replied as he turned out the light.

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Terry." Tamara settled back onto the pillows and sighed, falling asleep.

* * *

Bruce got up from his chair in the living room, going over old newspaper clippings from his past adventures. He and his crimefighting friends liked to scrapbook their adventures and often when he didn't have much to do, he liked to reminisce.

However for him, he was taking an early night that night. He stood up stiffly, grabbed his cane, and ambled upstairs.

Looking in on Terry, the senior saw that Terry had sprawled out on the bed in his boxers and white t-shirt, forgetting to draw the covers up again. Bruce took the blanket at the foot of the bed, shook it out, and spread it over his protege.

Terry stirred a little bit then relaxed back into sleep. Bruce went into Tamara's room, checking the monitor to make sure there were no problems with her heart. The printout was normal, proving his suspicion that she needed more potassium and electrolytes. He'd heard from Terry that Tamara ate normally, a very good sign. She'd cleaned her plate and given Terry some compliments as well.  
Bruce would need to check her blood one more time to make sure all levels were back to normal, but at the moment, he needed to give her an anticoagulant shot to make sure she would be safe from clots for that night. One injection of heparin later, Tamara never even moved as he disposed of the needle and left the room for the night.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: History and Physical

Terry stirred and woke up slowly, savoring the moment. He was usually rousted out of bed by the alarm clock at home in time for school, but today was the exception. With the start of the 3 day weekend, he was relishing every moment of freedom that he could get. His mother and Matt were out of town, Max was with family as well, so Terry got some solitude.

It was 9:30 AM, so Terry got up and did his morning routine. He was washed up and dressed when he nearly crashed into Bruce on the second floor landing. For the life of him, he never understood how or when exactly the old man actually went to sleep. Bruce was in bed after him and up in the morning before Terry got up. The teen personally cherished a private thought that Bruce hung himself up like a bat every night. A smirk crossed his face as Bruce glowered at him.

"Just see Tamara?"

"No. I'm about to go in and get a blood sample so I can check it." he had a kit in one hand to get her blood. Bruce opened up the door and Terry drew the window shades, making Tamara open up her eyes.

"Terry," Tamara started, glancing furtively to her left side as Bruce approached her. "Bruce Wayne, I think?" the former Batman ambled towards her with a first aid kit under one arm as Ace trotted in beside him.

"You think correctly," he grumbled as he set the kit on the bed and began to assemble it. "I need to check your blood."

"Nice to meet you too." she joked, extending her arm. Bruce selected a vein and successfully punctured it, taking a small bit of her lifeblood into the vial. "I already feel a lot better than I was yesterday."

"How long have you been by yourself?" Terry rolled his eyes. Bruce didn't like small talk and he had the uncomfortable habit of just diving into the topics that Tamara might not want to talk about. The old man never had much patience and was not a people person. Tamara seemed to take this is stride, though.

"About 4 months," she answered. "my guardian isn't exactly what you would call a nice person."

"Can you tell us some more?" Terry politely queried. "We just want to help you."

Bruce was just about to set the vial into the container when Ace stood up from his position by the door and stretched. Tamara grew pale and she recoiled by curling up in one corner of the bed as the dog walked right up to her. Terry joined her on the bed, taking her in his arms. "It's OK," he soothed. "Ace is a great dog and he won't hurt you."

"Afraid of dogs?" Bruce put the bandage wrappers into the garbage.

"We had a bad history," Tamara ventured a look at Ace as Bruce rubbed his head.

"I've got to put this in the testing machine. Be right back." he left without another word with her blood vial in his hand.

Tamara looked up at Terry sheepishly. "I suppose it sounds stupid to be afraid of dogs, but..."

"Everyone's got stuff they're afraid of," Terry waved it off. "come on up, Ace."

The dog hopped up lightly, waving his tail at Tamara as she froze. Terry extended a hand to Ace who licked it happily. The teenage girl ventured a glance at the dog, then tentatively extended her hand to him as well. Ace sniffed it, licking at a small bruise. His tongue felt like a bit of sandpaper to her, but she enjoyed the attention the dog gave.

"See? He's nobody to be afraid of," Terry reassured her. "we love him." Ace rolled onto his side and raised up his legs, asking for a belly rub. Chuckling, Terry obliged the dog and encouraged Tamara to join in.

"He's so soft," she commented. "nice doggie!"

"Isn't he? A good watchdog is invaluable as a guard and a companion." Terry briefly thought of how Ace came to be with Bruce, but banished that thought as Ace went up to Tamara and licked her face, making her giggle.

"Having fun, kids?" Bruce came back in with the printout of her blood test results. "Tamara, your levels are closer to normal, but I need to give you an injection of B12 and see that you have a healthy diet."

"All right. Um, how long am I staying here again? You're not going to send me back to Larry are you?"

Bruce didn't answer for a moment as Terry gave him a glare. The old man sat down on the edge of the bed and looked into Tamara's eyes. Ace looked pleased with himself, as he'd earned a new friend. Terry locked a fierce gaze on Bruce, hoping that he would not disappoint the young teen who needed help.

The elder Batman didn't mince words. "I have some legal tape to tie up first, but I would be happy to offer you a stable home here."

"I would gladly stay here, Mr. Wayne," Tamara accepted. "it would be great not to have to bum rides and food. Hell, it would be great to have someone care about me and for me."

Terry gave Bruce a meaningful glance, plainly asking when Bruce was going to tell her about Batman and all that entailed, but Bruce shook his head as he detached the IV line from Tamara's arm. He bandaged up the mark, gave her a shot of B12, and permitted her to get up and move about that day.

"I'll be asking questions about your guardian later on and we can go from there," he added. "Terry will be here for another day, then he has to go back to school."

"You don't live here?" Tamara questioned, flinching back from Ace as he tried to lick her. One glance from Bruce and the dog settled down, lying on the bed with an indignant sigh.

"It's a long story." Terry told her. "We'll tell you later."

"OK." Terry presented her with her clothes, freshly washed. "Go on and clean up now, I'll get you something to eat and we can go for a walk, build up your strength some."

"Sounds good to me." Tamara agreed.

* * *

In the kitchen while Terry was rummaging around, Bruce watched him as he leaned on his cane while Ace went out into the backyard to frisk around and play with squirrels.

"You realize she's very emotionally fragile right now?"

Terry shut a cabinet with a loud bang. "I know that, Bruce. Isn't that why you had me read the psych book yesterday?"

Bruce smirked. "I showed you the book and you dove right into it. I didn't think that you had an aptitude for psychology."

"Being in juvie for awhile and subjected to all those mind docs kinda changes a person's attitude about all that. At least the smart ones who turn their lives around."

"She's leagues different from you, Terry." the senior was a bit worried that Terry would identify too much with Tamara and that could spell trouble down the road. They both were teenagers and therefore impulsive in nature. It would take awhile before their brains would mature into adults.

"I know that, Bruce! When are you going to tell her about-me?"

He took the meaning well. "I'm not telling her anything just yet. She will know eventually Terry, but she needs to heal first. If I unload the secret onto her now, she might emotionally break down."

Terry paused in assembling the tray. "You mean a secret like ours could mean she winds up in a rubber room like the Joker and all those rogues?"

"Exactly. I want you to keep some distance between yourselves, not going beyond good friends." Bruce growled, getting his point across.  
"Bruce, I have a girlfriend." he reminded him.

"Today I want you to read the chapter on psychosocial anxieties."

"Yes, O keeper," the teenager giggled as Bruce glowered again. "that's your best look, you know." he picked up the tray and left the room. Bruce walked into the living room and picked out a book from his vast library to read as the two teenagers talked.

* * *

Later on outside the mansion, Tamara and Terry were strolling around the property with Ace capering madly at their heels. They both laughed at the dog pouncing on a cluster of seagulls, scattering them everywhere.

"It's nice here," Tamara commented. "I'll be glad to live here and escape from Larry."

"So if you don't mind me asking, what did he do? I know he's got a rap sheet." Terry narrowed his eyes against the sun as he glanced at her.  
Tamara snorted. "I know he does. He never wanted to become my guardian at all, Terry. The government pays some people to be guardians or foster or adopted parents. He was talked into it and I was forced to be with him against almost everyone's better judgment. He never paid any attention to me at all, just forced me to go to school no matter how sick I was, acted like I was a huge burden upon him, and generally treated me with contempt. Larry was never loving or anything that a real parent or caring adult would be. I put up with it until I was in my teens and a few months ago."

"What happened?"

"One day I just snapped. Couldn't take it anymore. I wanted and still want people who love me, take care of me when I'm sick, cheer me on when I achieve high marks in school, that kind of thing." her low heeled boots thudded on the flagstoned pathway in the garden as Ace ran ahead and started drinking out of a stream.

"I see."

"It's true, Terry. Larry's crime amongst others was neglect. He just got chummy when it was time to give a progress report to the local government so he could get his check. After that he would drink, cavort, liaison with undesirable people. Four months ago I took off as soon as he set out on his latest rendezvous. I don't think even a missing persons report was filed at all. Must have been glad to get rid of me." Terry did not mistake the tear running down her face.

"Hey, come on," he gripped her by her shoulders. "Bruce has a record of taking in some troubled kids and giving them a second chance on life. They're all successful."

"I know a bit about that." Bruce Wayne had come up a few times in her history class when they covered Gotham. He was a millionaire playboy who had an apparent active nightlife and was frequently out of town. Dick Grayson and Tim Drake had been adopted by him, both had turned out successful in their chosen careers and had families.

"Besides," Terry went on. "Bruce really does need help in his old age. He can't really cook for one thing. I'm more of the night watchboy."  
"Oh. What about school for me?"

"You'll go to school, but I'm sure you'll be cooking for him and helping him get to some meetings and such after school, etcetera. He needs two people to really handle him. Bruce gets moody often as well."

"I'll still be glad to live with him as long as he treats me like an adult. He seems indifferent but in a nicer way."

"He's not a people person and he's not indifferent, just different," Terry wasn't explaining himself very well. "Bruce is not physically demonstrative, compliments from him are rare, but if you know him like I do, you'll know his version of complimenting people is different from what you'd expect. He called my cooking last night 'interesting' and to him, that is a compliment."

"Oh. Well, you would know, right?" Terry put an arm around her as they walked up the back door of the mansion.

"Tell me about yourself, Terry."

"What do you want to know?"

"Do you have siblings?"

"Yes, I have a pesky brother, Matt..."

* * *

Bruce put down his book and sighed as Ace got up beside him and stuck a big horny paw in his lap. The old man lifted up his paw and examined the nails. "Got to get them trimmed again, boy." he remarked. The dog seemed to know exactly what he was saying as he received a death glare. Bruce made appointments with the vet, who had a nice nail-trimming sideline run by his assistants. Ace put up with it because the assistants were very good and never hurt him, but he still didn't like it.

Terry and Tamara emerged from the back door, Tamara giggling as Terry told her about one of Matt's escapades.

"...then his teacher calls and says that Matt was scaring the kids with his wolfman mask. The twip managed to con the mask back after it was confiscated, hid it in the teachers' bathroom, and there was a lot of screaming about 10 minutes later! Mom was furious with Matt but she told me later on that she thought it was really funny."

"Tamara," Bruce stood up. "I want to have a doctor friend examine you to make sure you're recovering properly."

"OK," she readily agreed. "who is this person?"

"Dr. Samuel Tompkins. He's already up there." Tamara went upstairs while Terry sat down with the psychology book again as Bruce went upstairs as well, sitting down on the stool in the hallway as Tompkins conducted the exam.

It took half an hour, but Tompkins, the son of Leslie Tompkins, emerged from the room. He was tall and a little portly, but has his mother's eyes. Tompkins was middle-aged now, about 45 years old with graying hair and a few deepening lines around his face. The doctor was very no nonsense and factual, not sugarcoating bad news. Bruce still used him regularly and Tompkins was his primary care doctor.  
"So?"  
Tompkins knew very well of Bruce's disdain for small talk and launched right into his report.

"She needs healthy nourishment, I saw the faint marks where you treated her for her internal problem. Her previous medical records are almost nothing-just a mention of slight scoliosis in her old school records and that's it. She's nearsighted, so I outlined the options for her and I know her eyes aren't done maturing properly, so she would need contacts or glasses for the next two years."

"Anything suspicious?"

"Nothing that I can find. I would be the most concerned about her mental health, as you no doubt already know, Bruce. She will likely suffer some post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety or panic attacks. As soon as she feels safer, she'll open up a little more. It's going to take awhile for her to trust you or Terry. There's always a period of adjustment."

"I know." Bruce remembered Tim's panic attacks, Dick's nightmares and anxiety after their traumas. He clenched on the handle of his cane, wishing to take Larry to court or have Terry apprehend him.

"Maybe the information Tamara has can help you nail Larry for something," Tompkins stated plainly. "I hope so. She's pretty traumatized."

"I'm going to get the legalities out of the way," Bruce nearly snarled. He was not a tactile person and was pretty out of touch about teenagers despite Terry's best efforts, but he did hate to see young people being abused. "thank you, Sam."

"My pleasure, Bruce. I can recommend a good shrink for her if you like."

"I'll talk that over with her later. She's got to make the decision for herself."

"To help her feel like she has some control over her life? Smart, Bruce. Try to get to know her some more so she trusts you. Build up a bond." Tompkins encouraged as he put his instruments away. "I'll copy that bloodwork and start a proper medical file on her as well. Tomorrow she needs to get caught up on all her routine shots so I'll get that started."

"For starters?"

"From the screening bloodwork already I can tell she's had the hep C series, so I'll get her on the HPV series, a follow-up tetanus among a few other things. She needs to feel like someone cares about her, all that I know you already do know about."

It had always been difficult for Bruce to demonstrate his affection for his wards, Barbara Gordon, and even Terry. Terry knew how Bruce felt about him and would often tease him unmercifully, such was their relationship. Wry humor helped to get his points across to the teen, but it wouldn't work on Tamara just yet.

"Thank you, Sam." the former Batman grunted, showing him out. Going back to his study, Bruce drew up a plan of action to try to help Tamara.


End file.
